iii. 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥

𝟎𝟎𝟓

Everett landed on the platform and looked around at her family. Looks of awe and amazement were written on every face. But when Everett found her brother, her heart froze.

His face was covered in water, and his eyes were void.

"Clint?" Everett said softly. Her heart dropped as Clint fell to his knees. She rushed to him, and then noticed something.

"Where's Nat?"

Clint didn't move, didn't speak. Everett felt her body turn numb. The ice was creeping over her body and through her veins and there was no stopping it now.

Not if she was gone.

"Clint," Everett said, her voice low and deadly. "Where is Nat?"

His eyes went to his hand. Sitting in it was the Soul Stone. And then everything made perfect sense.

Thanos went to Vormir to get the Soul Stone with his daughter. He came back with the Stone, but without his daughter.

"No," Everett whispered. "No, no, no, no." Cold tears streamed down her face.

Everett felt hands on her back, pulling her up. She faced Tony.

"Breathe, Sparkles," he said, voice shaken. "In and out."

Everett sucked in a big breath, and it might have been the most painful thing she'd ever done.

"Nat," she whispered, and the dam broke. Full, terrifying sobs broke from her, racking her body, making her cough and choke, but she didn't want to stop. She wanted to feel the pain, needed to. Tony wrapped his arms around her, closing her in. But she pushed away.

She wiped her tears, trying to calm her racing heart. "This has to work. We have to make it work."

Tony schooled his facial expression. "I know."

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Everett sat on the dock with her back facing the group, looking out at the water. Her eyes were sore and red from crying, but her heart hurt worse.

The ice was still there. It covered her body, preventing her from doing anything but sitting and staring at the lake and feeling her heart in pieces.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," Steve said, his voice more broken than Everett had ever heard. "Us."

"What?" Thor said, moving closer to Steve and Tony. Everett turned around and stood.

Tony looked at Thor. "Huh?"

"What are you doing?" Thor asked.

"Just asked him a question," Tony replied.

"Yeah, no, why are you acting like she's dead? Why are we acting like she's dead?" Thor's voice rose. "We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back. Isn't that right? So, stop this. We're the Avengers. Get it together."

"We can't get her back," Everett said. Thor turned towards her.

"What?"

"It can't be undone. It can't." Everett watched her brother's face. Clint looked at her, and her heart almost broke all over again. Natasha Romanoff had been Clint Barton's best friend for years. And now she was gone, forever. They both knew that.

Thor laughs and walks over to Everett. "Look, no offense, but you're a very earthly being, okay? And we're talking about space magic. So 'can't' seems very definitive, don't you think?"